Brief

Science and Citizens: Global and Local Voices

Published on 2 December 2024

Science and technology are key to tackling poverty and promoting better well-being in the modern world, as the Millennium Development Goals and the Commission for Africa’s findings underline.

But how can scientific and technological advances – often played out on a global or corporate stage – translate into innovations that will meet poor people’s needs and concerns at a local level? How do rapid scientific advances and new technologies engage with issues of participation and accountability? And in what ways do these rapid changes challenge notions of citizenship and identity?

Based on work undertaken by the Science and Citizens programme of the Citizenship, Participation and Accountability Development Research Centre, this IDS Policy Briefing argues that public engagement in scientific debates and policy processes is necessary to address how research agendas are framed and the social purposes they serve, and to ensure that poorer people and communities will benefit from them.

Authors

Ian Scoones

Professorial Fellow

Melissa Leach

Emeritus Fellow

Publication details

published by
IDS
authors
Scoones, I. and Leach, M.
journal
IDS Policy Briefing, issue 30
language
English

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